Condenser for aircraft



Dec. 4 1923.

INVENTOR f.

Dec. 4 1923. i

D. MON. RAMsAY CONDENSERFOR AIRCRAFT Filed Feb. s, '1922 4 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR y Dec, 4 1923.

1,476,541 D. MoN. RAMSAY coNDENsER FOR AIRGRAFT Filed Feb. s. 1922 4 sheets-sheet 5 INI "l ,nl l1 l! i i i-,| mi will INVENTOR I j 23 [www] wwf Patented Dec. 4, '1923,

"UNITED STATES! A1,476,541 PATENT oFFicrs.l

DAvID MeNA'B nAMsAmfoF GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, AssIGNoR To THE RAMSAY CON; DENSING LoOoiyio'rIvE COMPANY LIMITED, or GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, A BBITISH COMPANY.

Coiv'DENsEa Foa AilacRi-AET.`

'Appiication'ied rebvruar'y 3, i922; seriaiNo. saavs'zf To all whomz't may con-cem Be it known that I, DAVID 'MGNAB- RAM- sAY, 'a subject of the King Vof England, `residing at Glasgow, Scotland, have invented certain new' and useful Improvements in Condensers for Aircraft, of which the fol' denser. The'lat tubes may consist of sheet lowing iS a specification. Y This invention consists in improvements in or relating to power plant for aircraft.

At present aero-engines are generally of the internal combustion type, and the fuel em'-y ployed is light motor spirit, such as petrol. It is desirable to provide for aircraft a power plant to enable any fuel to be used and to overcome the disadvantages of, the internal combustion engine as such. Sir Hiram Maxim originally'proposed to em' ploy a 1-eciprocatingsteam engine and steam generator, but the' power which-such' plant develops for its weight is not suflicient for use in aircraft. l f

It is desirable to employ a steam turbine. as the prime-mover.` The power output of a steam'turbine depends largely on the ex# ha'ust pressure, which is determined by the' efiicacy of the condensing plant to' produce a high vacuum, andthe employment of a turbine for use in aircraft is only possible by providingl a condenser which, by its construction and its arrangement in the air` craft, will ensure the maintenance: of al highv vacuum y without' Vexcessive weight, possibility of leakage or other disadvantages.

In the air-'cooled condenser itself, it is essential to provide a large 'cooling area for a small weight, to reduce the air resistancel to a practical minimum and to ensure they scouring of the coolingjsiirface'by the air stream, while avoidin'g the' formation of cushions or pockets of comparatively still air.v

' According to this invention in anfaircooled condenser for aircraftsteampower plant there' is provided the combination'with: top and bottom headers/of flattubesexftending between said headers and 'commu-V combination withtop and bottom headers, oftubes (preferably seamless drawntubes made of a metal of high heat conductivity,

for 'example copper) having cylindrical ends for attachment to theheaders, and having the intermediate portions flattened for the purposes set out above, the at surfaces be! ingfarran'ged substantially parallel to the directionof flow of air through-the conthe condenser in the direction oftheY stream of air, each tube shows a'wavy edge.

The condensers are preferably made in batteries, each battery comprising inletand outlet headersA vconnected together bythe tubes above described. The batteries can be readily connected together by transverse frame-members. i l

` lIfay flattube be disposedwith its flat side exactly vvparallel withV thel stream of air, in the same way as `a Ship moves through water, a cushion of comparatively still air maybeA formed vat the.l leading edge of the-y tube,l ror ifa battery ofV flat tubes be disposed with the'lat sides of the tubes exact'lyl parallel with the stream of ainthe're may bea tendency to form a cushionwof comparatively still1 air infront of thewhole battery,` and Ipreferto arrange the tubes or thebatteri'es Iof tubes so that the planefof" ia'ttening'is slightly""inclined to the stream of airv where` it strikes the, condenser, ,so that the stream Offair passing through thel conf' denser is lslightly deflected from the main slip-stream. A "According to another feature` of this invention, the various batteries forming one condenser are mounted in a framework inv the forni of'a .very 4wide letter .V disposed' on the trailing: side vof the'p'ropeller with the apexl ofthe V in the axis of and ,facing the propeller, so that the Hat ytubes, are in` clined l to the Slip st'reani inthe ,manner above. described" lio enl

I find it advantageous todispgse the con-l denser'at someflittle distancegfrom the; pro`d4 peller in order to minimize the back pressure thereon due to the air resistance of the condenser. Preferably, the turbine 'is disposed between vthe propeller and the'lcondenser.

In determining the surface necessary` kfor the condenser, it is naturally necessary to consider the duty ofthe condenser underings. which illustrateonef construction and" 2,5. arrangement of Condenser and powerplant as applied to an:aeroplane--` Fleur@ 1 .1S-.e plan WGW-0f. @Partlow-0.1?.

an aeroplane fittedifwith steam powerfplalt being removed,

[Figure 2 is an' elevation ef Sareelokee from therear, and'. 1

"Figure'` is aside elevation.'`

:Figure 4= iS: a Centr-'a1 Setionalfeleratienof one of the'condenser batteries,. the..middle pprtion being..brokenaway.y

` Figure 5 is a :central-sectionallelevatiom at right angles thereto, and

Figuretjv is a fra mentary .seetioiijalfview on Ythe line 6-:6 0f igule liloQking in -the direction of the arrowsthereon. Thef'aeroplane isv provided with. tv v'oA pro-y pellers 1 2, drivenv separately by. Steam tur-V bines 3V and ,4 respectively, arrangedgoneongeach side ofthe fuselage,:andmounted be-,- tween the Wings of the machine. yCenvenf ientl'y, they bo'ilergris arranged vopposite thev turbineslso thai-,the steam can be. 'conveyed to .each of them by a straight-pipe 'oonneea tion extendinglaterally from the. boileeand`f proyided with flexible or other .suitable joints. Eachturbine iseoupledtoY its pros'. peller,preferably through a, reduction gearv indieated aty Gf-T/so isypossible @to useV a highspeed turbine and a -vlefwsspeed propellenf, as; is desirableV from thefppint-of viewer. ei'ciencyland 10W weight.. Thetre pellers are of the traotortype, and ,enh-'tue Q9, Abine'.isarranged .immediately behind its-propeller, and behindy each turbine'rtherbatteijy of' ce'ndens'ers allocated tov itare'i'nounted1in-4 anfy suitable framework, .y i A LAS .the turbine elldits; asseiated partelfe u merely'duplicated on each 'sidepfthe of, the. lower .portion of .same butl in Vja y heriabefere'deribedvandiisecuredf tubesplates'il and 17 f lage of the machine, the description. hereinafter will refe-r only togione of themf-- The, exhaust steam from the turbine passes, through a pipe 8 of suitable 'dimensions for the low-pressure`steam, uwpw'ardl'yfandfrean 70 Wardly 'pastan atmospheric exhaustfyalve 9 Ato the headers for the condenser '10. "This condenser is' built up of two sets of three of the.y batteries hereinbefore referred to. These batteries are mounted in a suitable` framework, and are disposed three ion eachl Side '-Qf. thejcentre aline ofthe turbine, the three Ybatteries each .being 1in lline and in-` Qlned Slightly beds-wards; es'fclearly -1.1.di; c ated- YFigure Y l, se 'as to present the apex1 8.0 ofa V of broadaaligle .towards-"thefront of the -machine The apex; ,oftheV Vfwnven# elli'fly-ls' inthe.' Same-vertical plane) as the @Kleef the turbine ,end-:off @herr-Orell@ whchjitldrvee- .The headers/.distribute the exhaust# steam" t0y tch@ tubesl :ef `.eaeh of, Ithe batteresyand* :0n 'the Passage, Qf the iste. an-1 through the tubesgof ythese 'bzitter-ies it, isf @Ondelsd-.i .Th `Wei-1*fQWa:t04the-bomma header 0fIV ahfbattery fandthenee' into .a5 it trunk Pip@ 1 1 which. is-conneeted :to 1th@ Water-.eXtraetion` pumpV 1 2. lIln the- -cOnneQti-Q. between thetrunl@ 1.1 afeliesaid andi the-water-@Xtraletonpumpsthereisfpwrided a.-.S9Pil:1`..1e Chevallier113,,y thefflower per-tieni 954 of which is connected to the Waterrextraetien pumpafandffthe upper; portienbf whichvs toman ejector 14 -Whihvextracts am. ll-Or-glSQs-,SO thetthe.Waterextraoten\ Pump. has tev .deal Qnly frithf-liqxiwltI 199 eieetere 14:. :dseherges :the -gases; zu1d-its.@wiel Steam finto they-beteren 1.5 @11de lthe weten Qrtlaetpn @11mm-whim is prefere 1y a Centrifugal high-Speedrvmpa als@ delivers'. the Condensed-water toL the 'hQt-.We11..4 Aa 105 boiler 4feed#121411.19.-iensilieated @12.41F i The batteries of condenser-s are construcb f ed asl .hereinbefore described, each 'battery Se@ .Fgure4f6f mprisingean-uppea nd a lower4 tube-plate 1.6? and .31,7y respeetiaely 110 which are Veenneetedtogether by .su.'t a l le frame-m embers1 1-8 the tubes. 19aref1nount ed in tlie tube-pilates-.in-gany desired manner,v

S9festeggiareaniairtighti-@int te prevent the leakageQf-iarft'ntothe interior of tbe-fman.".` 115 denser. Itfis vdesirable that this leakageV Should.- ,be .l'dlwedytona minimum ein 1orrlffar. t0 maintaI-.hafhgl rauumlandnsu a g1 it', power .output from the: turbinak but any.

leakage -zdnesftak @e infanypart ef. 120 the yacuulnfsystem,the `air is extracted. from? thefQnde-nseranddseharsedsbymeans zot; theV ejector, L14:, -aferesad- Headers. 22ia11d1 .23' are Provided; fet f'iihtp 1 andfbattemerl' tivelyofaewhnbattetyf 1 In the commutation@tf-the. condenser@ tubes." 19 `are flattened and-morrugated as,

They/m .staf-platee@ l1eulmleedietelrefthelrea 20 secured to the side frame-members 18 of the battery in order to prevent any vibration, which would tend to loosen them in the tube-plates.

VPreferably there is arranged on the leading face of `each condenser-battery a number of vertical vanes 21 which are set at an angle to the plane o f flattening of the tubes 19, so that when the batteries are built up to form a condenser of V-shape, as hereinbefore described, the vanes each lie in a plane parallel with the stream of air and thus serve to direct the air through the condenser and onto the tubes thereof.

Preferably aluminium or some light alloy is used for the tube plates into which the flat tubes or boxes are secured in any suitable manner.

As it is possible to use sheet metal of lighter gauge than that of seamless drawn tubes, a condenser of less weight can be produced with this type of tube and also at less cost.

It will be appreciated that various modications may be made in the mechanical details of construction of the power plant according to this invention. Thus, for example, an aeroplane or other aircraft may be provided with only a single propeller and turbine, and any desired type of turbine which gives the desired power output with the requisite low weight may be used. The

mounting of the various parts in the machine may also be varied as to construction, arrangement and disposition, according to the requirements in each particular case.

It will be understood that the construction and arrangement of the steam generator and hot-well, and fuel tanks and burners, form no part of my present invention, but these may be mounted in the fuselage of the machine.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters atent is 1. In an air-cooled condenser for aircraft steam power plant, a condenser unit comprising a top header, a bottom header, a plurality of tubes having cylindrical ends for attachment to said headers and having intermediate portions flattened in one plane and corrugated so that the ridges of the corrugations extend across the attened sides of the tubes transversely to the length thereof and arranged with the flat sides substantially parallel to two opposite sides of the condenser unit, and fixed air deflecting plates mounted on that one of the other sides of the unit which constitutes the leading face of the unit, said plates extending in i' the direction of vthe length of the tubes but at an angle to the plane o f flattening thereof.

2. An air-cooled condenser for aircraft steam power plant, comprising a pluralityv of self-contained condenser units each having a top header, a bottom header, a plurality of tubes having cylindrical ends for attachment to said headers and having the intermediate portions flattened in one plane and corrugated so that the ridges of the corrugations extend across the flattened sides of the tubes transversely to the length thereof and arranged with the flat sides substantially parallel to two opposite sides of the condenser unit, and fixed air deflecting plates mounted on that'one of the other sides of the unit which constitutes the leading face of the unit, said plates extending in the direction of the lengthl of the tubes but at an angle to the plane of iiattening thereof, all ofsaid units being connected todeflecting plates on the leading facesparallel to the line which bisects the angle at the apex of the V.

3. An air-cooled condenser for aircraft steam power plant, kcomprising a plurality of self-contained condenser units each having a top header, a bottom header, a plurality of tubes having cylindrical ends for attachment to said headers andhaving the intermediate portions flattened in one plane and corrugated so that the ridges of the corrugations extend across the flattened sides of the tubes transversely to the length thereof and arranged with the flat sides substantially parallelto two opposite sides of the condenser unit, fixed air deliecting plates mounted on that one of the other sides of the unit which constitutes the leading face of the unit, said plates extending in the direction of the length of the tubes but at an angle to the plane of flattening thereof, all of said units being connected together side by side in two rows with the leading faces of the units in each row in line, said rows of units forming a Wide V with the said deflecting-plates on the leading faces of the units parallel to the line which bisects the angle at the apex of the V, a steam manifold having a plurality of connections for communication with the top header of each unit in each row, and a condensate tube having a plurality of connections for communication with the bottom header of each unit in each row.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature.

DAVID MGNAB RAMSAY.

'gether in the form of a wide V with the said f 

